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better once his sister and her family were
safely off Earth. He had sensed the fear in her voice when he had spoken to
her.
    “The cargo
ships are still being loaded with supplies and should be ready shortly for their
first trip to Newton,” Tomalson added, as he watched the liners grow smaller on
the screen.
    The two destroyers
join up with them, and Kurt knew they would shortly be activating their
hyperspace drives. A number of cargo ships were located on a dozen small
spaceports across the planet. They were rapidly being loaded with surplus supplies
and other items that Newton might need, once all trade with Earth was cut off.
Other cargo ships would be sent to Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
    “How much time
do you think we have?” asked Colonel Hayworth, as the ships suddenly vanished
from the viewscreen, making their jumps into hyperspace.
    “Ships have
successfully jumped,” confirmed Lieutenant Haley. She had a relieved look on
her face.
    “It’s hard to
tell,” Tomalson replied, “since we’re uncertain where their planet is.”
    Kurt studied
the viewscreen to see the tug move in closer to the Dante . He knew the
tug would latch onto the ship with magnetic grapples and then bring the ship
back to the shipyard to be further evaluated.
    “The analysts
I’ve spoken to,” Tomalson added, “feel pretty certain that the Profiteers will
regroup at their home world and then return with a larger and better armed
fleet.”
    “I wonder how
much bigger?” Kurt said with a frown.
    He didn’t want
his ships to be caught in orbit like the Profiteers had done to the Earth
fleets to begin with. The only difference was, his ships were keeping their
energy screens up at low power as a precautionary measure and were staying at a
higher level of alert. It wouldn’t be so easy to catch his fleet unprepared, especially
now that they knew what was coming.
    “We’ll know
more when we finish interrogating the prisoners,” Tomalson answered. “That will
start later today.”
    Kurt nodded.
He needed to get back to the Star Cross and arrange for more munitions,
particularly missiles, to be transferred to all his ships. They hadn’t fired
any during the brief battle, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be needed
later.
    -
    Entering the Command Center of the Star Cross , Kurt saw Captain Randson sitting in his command
chair with a look of deep concern on his face.
    “Still no luck
contacting Emily?”
    “No,” Andrew
answered grimly. “I did manage to reach Emily’s parents, and they haven’t heard
from her either.”
    “Here are the
latest status reports, as requested, sir,” Lieutenant Mays said, handing Kurt a
small computer pad. “It lists the current ammunition levels, plus supplies for
all the ships in the fleet.”
    Kurt nodded.
“Make sure we requisition everything we might need for a long deployment.”
    “Already
working on it, sir,” Mays replied, as she turned and went back to her console.
    “There have
been rumors that these Profiteers abducted some people in the Houston area,” Andrew
continued with a hint of fear showing in his eyes. “Do you think it’s possible
that Emily and Alexis were taken?”
    “Fleet Admiral
Tomalson is still working on getting more information about any missing humans,”
responded Kurt, knowing how concerned Andrew must be. “If these aliens did take
Emily and Alexis, I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to get them
back.”
    “Sir, the tug
is approaching with the Dante ,” reported Lieutenant Lena Brooks.
    “Put it up on
the screen.”
    The Dante appeared with the tug’s magnetic grapples holding the ship.
    “She’s been
hit hard,” pointed out Andrew. “It looks as if Engineering is open to space, as
well as the starboard munitions bunker. From the size of the hole, I would
guess there was a major explosion. See how the hull is peeled back, as if an
explosion occurred inside the ship?”
    Kurt nodded in
agreement. The